Pakistan Attempts to Damage Afghan Economy

Kabul (BNA) New restrictions of Pakistan on exportation of Afghan fruits prove that Pakistan is still active for sabotaging the economy of Afghanistan and never has come short from its adventurous activities.
BNA economic affairs analyst commenting on the issue writes the authorities of Afghan commerce and industrial chamber say that Pakistan has prevented the exportation of Afghan apple and grapes exportation to that country since a couple days ago. Beside apple, using different pretexts they also prevent the exportation of some other Afghan agricultural items. They claimed.
This time, is using a pretext that Iran’s apple under the name of Afghan apple exports in to that country, while two months has left for harvesting apple in Iran.
In addition to other fruits, annually more than a thousand tons of apple exports from Afghanistan in to Pakistan.
The new move of Pakistan for preventing the importation of Afghan apple in to that country once again makes the matter clear that Pakistan is seeking in sabotaging Afghan economy and its intelligence and political offices deliberately manage the program and recent political changes in Pakistan has brought no any changes in destructive policy of that country over Afghanistan.
The issue that should be focus on is this that Pakistan has always used the transit and commerce as a means of pressure against Afghanistan, while itself requires both the markets and the route of Afghanistan to trade with central Asian countries and persistently has tried to use the matter as one way street in its benefit.
In transit issue Afghanistan and Pakistan need each other, as Afghanistan uses Pakistan markets and its routes for reaching international markets, Pakistan also uses Afghanistan as a transit route for sending its industrial and agricultural goods. If we think deeply on these mutual needs, it becomes clear that the requirements of Pakistan are more serious than Afghanistan’s.
Therefore, in existence of such mutual requirements one side cannot use commercial and transit roads as a monopoly and use them as a political and economic arm.
The persistent adventurous policies of Pakistan on Afghan transit roads made the country to find alternative roads and found.
Turning of Afghanistan to new routes and establishing air corridors have somewhat decreased the dependency of Afghanistan in to Pakistan’s routes and this led to the reduction of business worth billions of dollars between the two countries and instead, Afghanistan increased it trading with Iran, India and Central Asian countries.
Pakistan prevents the exportations of Afghan fruits in to that country in a time that is the season of gathering the products and this clearly show that Pakistan has never been honest in its commitments but uses commerce as a means to achieve its political objectives.
Pakistan has always used the issues of transit, refugees and cultural and economic issues as a means of pressure against Afghanistan and victimized economy for politics but the loser of this game is Pakistan because Afghanistan finding new alternative routes has no any interests in opening its frontiers to Pakistan. The ongoing adventurous policies of Pakistan without doubt harm the traders and exporters of that country. Meanwhile, it would be necessary for Afghan relevant authorities to deal with Pakistan the same in order that country accepts that politics cannot shade on economy.
Abdul Khalil Minawi